1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid base, a process for producing said solid base and a process for preparing an internal olefin in the presence of said solid base. More particularly, the present invention relates to a solid base obtainable by heating alumina, an alkaline earth metal compound and an alkali metal or its hydride at a specific temperature, a process for producing said solid base and a process for preparing an internal olefin by isomerizing an olefin in the presence of said solid base.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solid bases are technically important catalysts and used to catalyze the isomerization of olefins, and hydrogenation or dehydrogenation reactions.
There is known a solid base comprising an alkali metal supported on an alkaline earth metal oxide or a carrier consisting of an alkaline earth metal oxide and an alkali metal hydroxide (cf. Japanese Patent Kokai Publication Nos. 94925/1985 and 81334/1987). However, such a solid base comprising an alkaline earth metal oxide tends to agglomerate during its production so that its handleability is poor, and its catalytic performance is not sufficient.
Further, a solid base comprising an alkali metal hydride supported on a carrier such as alumina is known (cf. Japanese Patent Kokai Publication Nos. 121753/1978 and 134736/1984). Since such a solid base comprising an alkali metal hydride can act as a catalyst in the presence of an auxiliary agent such as ammonia or hydrazine, it has some drawbacks since a purification apparatus for separating and removing the agent is required and that the catalytic reaction is troublesome due to the use of the auxiliary agent.